Though it’s long been understood that Tribune Co. is trying to sell newspaper properties in order to concentrate on its digital and broadcast outlets, there may be a major obstacle to any sale.

According to Crain’s Chicago, Tribune has ownership stakes in two
classified-advertising companies, CareerBuilder and Classified Ventures,
which have revenue agreements with some of Tribune’s newspapers that could be altered upon a sale. That, in turn, Crain’s said, could drastically affect the sale prices for those newspapers.